Weymouth officials don't expect LNR sale to affect SouthField plans

The master developer for the ambitious SouthField development project at the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station has been sold to a Connecticut company for $1.05 billion.

By Christian Schiavone

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Christian Schiavone

Posted Jan. 25, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 25, 2013 at 2:52 AM

By Christian Schiavone

Posted Jan. 25, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 25, 2013 at 2:52 AM

WEYMOUTH

» Social News

There’s a new key player in the redevelopment of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, but the mayor, town councilors and others closely watching the development say they don’t expect that to change the project much.

Connecticut-based Starwood Property Trust and Starwood Capital Group on Thursday announced that they have agreed to buy LNR Property LLC, the parent company of the master developer for the project known as SouthField, for $1.05 billion. Florida-based LNR has led efforts since 2002 to attract investors and developers to build homes and commercial buildings on the former military base.

Weymouth officials said they’d heard that LNR was looking for a buyer, so they weren’t surprised by the news.

And while they know little about Starwood, they said it’s unlikely the sale would slow progress or change the plans for the redevelopment since they’re spelled out in binding agreements with Weymouth, Abington and Rockland, the three communities with land in the former base.

“I don’t see anything changing,” Weymouth Mayor Susan Kay said. “I don’t think it can. This is such a lock-tight project in that everyone is bound by certain legal documents.”

Those documents include plans for 2,800 homes and 2 million square feet of commercial space, as well as requirements for each town to receive a portion of the money from sales of land to developers.

Town Councilor Michael Smart, whose district includes SouthField, said Starwood might help spur long-awaited commercial development.

“It’s almost like a new, fresh set of eyes on it to continue to invest in the community and move the project forward,” he said.

SouthField is only a relatively small piece of LNR’s business, which includes offices in the United States and Europe. But Kay and Smart said they hoped it would be a priority and that representatives from Starwood would meet with them soon.

A spokesman for Starwood said the sale will likely be completed in the spring, but didn’t respond to a request for comment on how the sale would affect SouthField.

Bill Ryan, a spokesman for LNR and former Weymouth selectman, said he couldn’t comment on the sale or what it would mean for the project.

Kevin Donovan, executive director of South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp., the public agency overseeing the redevelopment, said he had received little information about the sale or its potential impact. He said Starwood representatives visited the site briefly last summer.

“Now that things are being formalized, I would expect to sit down with someone from Starwood in the very immediate future,” he said.

Page 2 of 2 - LNR, founded in 1969, is owned by a group of investment companies, including New York-based Cerberus Capital Management, which also has an interest in Steward Healthcare, the owner of Quincy Medical Center, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and Morton Hospital in Taunton, among others. LNR has 550 employees and 12 offices in the U.S. and Europe.